


The Avatar Killed the World

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I'll do my best to explain as we go alright, Welcome to crossover hell pal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 09:24:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5823229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avatar disappeared from the world for 500 years. When he returned, the world was already well on its way to ruin. Nuclear fallout occurred despite his best efforts to stop it. Nature decayed into a shell of it's former self. And, now, those who wander the wasteland in search of their better selves curse the name of the Avatar for letting this happen. Eventually, he pays them back with his blood. So, the cycle of reincarnation begins anew.</p><p>Korra has known no other world than this one. But, she knows being the Avatar would open up a huge target on her back. Surviving is more important than some dumb mythical destiny. If anyone asked her, the Avatar was probably gone for good.</p><p>But, of course, destiny has other plans for her that starts with her secret being found out by a very pretty Imperator.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Avatar Killed the World

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope the summary gave you enough of an idea as to the weird merging of these two universes I've created. If you have any lingering questions about it at the end of the chapter, please comment! It may help me to clear things up in future chapters.
> 
> THE DEATH IN THIS CHAPTER IS THE ONLY ONE I PLAN ON DOING. Hence, why I didn't tick Major Character Death. Plus, said character is 1. old, 2. more minor in the Legend of Korra series, and 3. well, I'm a bit of an ass. If I decide to kill even one more named character I'll adjust the warning. 
> 
> Anyway, uh, basics.
> 
> Q: Will the Mad Max characters be benders?  
> A: Some of them, yes. You won't see them until the next chapter though.
> 
> Q: Will Max show up?  
> A: It is a mystery even to me right now. Noncommittal maybe.
> 
> Q: Who's in charge of the Citadel now?  
> A: The former wives, of course. They were the most educated people for the job and formed the Council of Many Mothers. Furiosa is still an Imperator. Again, they'll show up next chapter.
> 
> Q: Hold on, how old is everyone?  
> A: The Mad Max characters are about a decade older than they were in the films. Good regimes take time to build after all. As for the Avatar characters, they're all around book 4 ages, maybe a year or two older.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Korra thought that the madness set in soon after Katara’s death. Sure, it had been there before from previous incidents, but it sure as hell got worse afterwards. Considering that she’d been Korra’s only companion for the five years after her parents’ deaths, it really wasn’t surprising. The crippling loneliness only made her dwell on her losses even more in the desert wasteland. It was to the point that when she wasn’t surviving she was thinking or dreaming about death. Her dreams were haunted by her parents’ bloody faces, Katara’s tired old one, and even the various dying, screaming faces of the bandits that Korra had ended over the years. But, it always seemed circle back to Katara.

Korra was currently sitting on the roof of her car, eating a simple lunch of mutated desert snake and a small ration of her water. She was keeping a sharp eye on her surroundings, ready to start up the car at the slightest sign of danger. However, other than the hot wind, the desert was silent. Without anything to keep her mind focused, Korra’s thoughts started to drift back to Katara. Of course, by drift back, she meant flashback to what she said to Korra right before she died. 

~~~~~

Katara’s face had had sunken eyes before she died from the severe dehydration. There wasn’t enough water and the air had been too dry for them to create any from the air. Even after driving and sand-bending for days, it was still too dry. They’d come across no traders either. They hadn’t come across anyone. Which was probably a blessing in disguise if it was considered that bandits would’ve killed them both a lot quicker. However, that thought wasn’t anywhere near as scary as the look Katara had as she’d collapsed in the backseat of their car. The look of someone who’d accepted that they were about to die and there was nothing to be done.

“Korra,” She had said simply and tiredly, “I can’t go on.”

Korra had never heard Katara use the word ‘can’t’ to describe herself. It was terrifying in a way that made her want to throw up. She’d gripped Katara’s dry hands a bit tighter, “Yes, you can. W-we just need to get more water soon, that’s all. Once we get water, you’ll feel much better.”

“Child, not even water, something I’ve been connected to my entire life, can save me from death now. I’ve lived a long, good life. Longer than most in these wastelands. Longer still for a water bender.”

Maybe, if she hadn’t been so dehydrated, Korra would’ve broken down in tears. Instead, she gripped Katara’s hands tighter and bit her lower lip until it bled. She exhaled a shuttering, “Please…”

The look that Katara gave her was heartbreaking. It conveyed all the little things she knew she didn’t have time to say. Somehow, with one look, she managed to tell Korra that, ‘I would never leave you unless I didn’t have a choice and I love you so much and you need to know that because I consider you family, something that runs in short supply these days.’ Then, she weakly squeezed Korra’s hands back while she said something else that needed to be said in its place. “Korra, when I’m gone, I won't be able to cover for any future mishaps. But, you must never let another soul after mine know that you are the Avatar. Everyone believes that the Avatar abandoning them is what led to the death of this world. My dear Aang paid the price for that in blood, nearly 500 years after he was frozen in that iceberg. We saw the world fall into ruin together. We had a family together. We left those grown children for their safety together. And, if it wasn’t for the fact that I needed to find you, his reincarnation, I would’ve died with him.” She swallowed before continuing to croak out, “I searched for thirteen lonely years for you, Korra. And, when I found you, your parents had been killed and there was bandit blood on your hands. You were only just a teenager. Not a good first meeting by anyone’s standards. Ah, but I’m rambling and bringing up bad memories. The point is, after that, we had such a wonderful seven years together. You gave me life when I was well done with it, Korra. More than anything, I want you to take my mother’s necklace and try to find my children. They will take you in.” She smiled weakly, “Please take care of yourself, Korra. And know that I’ll always love you in all your incarnations.”

Katara exhaled one last breath and died.

Korra felt like she should be screaming, crying, and cursing the world for all its injustices. Instead, she neatly folded Katara’s hands, removed her necklace from around her neck, and tied it around her own. She buried Katara in the desert later that night, knowing that keeping a dead body around for too long would attract murderous crows. However, she was lucky enough to find a dead tree to bury her by. After the deed was done, she carved into the tree with her knife: ‘Here lies Katara, wife, mother, teacher, healer, and water bending master’. It felt too simple and dumb to incorporate how important Katara was but Korra didn’t know what else to put. 

That’s when she heard the first voice. A deep male one right next to her ear, “Everyone around you always dies, don’t they?” Korra quickly reacted by lifting up her knife and stabbing at empty air. Confused, she finished paying her respects and drove away.

Three days later, she ambushed a small bandit car, killing everyone on it for their supplies. The first thing she did was drink water and eat ravenously. But, not too ravenously, this food had to last. Later, when she was properly rehydrated, she took account of all her gained supplies. However, her head automatically started to divide by two. A hard lump formed in her throat and her eyes burned. It was like someone had kicked Korra in the gut. The numbness she’d been feeling finally left as Korra felt her loss weigh down on her. She dropped to her knees and sobbed out every bit of water she’d just drank. 

 ~~~~~

It’d been roughly a year and Korra had been alone ever since.

“Snap out of it, Korra, there’s war boys on the horizon.” Well, mostly alone. Korra blinked as Katara’s voice echoed in her head. The voices of the dead remained her only company. Katara was the only friendly, protective one. Although, sometimes, she would be passive aggressive about Korra letting her die. But, Korra was fine with that. Katara didn’t scream in her head like the dead bandits. Nor did Katara mock everything she did like the voices of her parents.

Grabbing her binoculars, Korra looked out to the west horizon line to see that, yep, those were definitely war boys. Grinning skull faces were whooping and pointing in the direction of her vehicle. Her hands gripped her binoculars tighter. Like hell they were going to get her Boss 9. At the top of the list of things that Were Not Going to Fucking Happen was: Nobody who wanted to live was going to get their grubby hands on her Boss 9.

Her 1970 Boss 429 Mustang, or The Boss 9, was the only thing she had left from her parents. Korra’s dad used to brag about it being one of the rarest muscle cars. Her dad had been pretty high up in the business world before the collapse to afford it. Under the hood was an incredibly powerful 429 cubic inch 385 V8 engine hooked up to a four speed manual system. She’d learned to keep that engine purring like a angry jaguar at age two. If she was good to that engine, she could get the Boss 9 up to 175 mph. Of course, she didn’t go up to that speed if she could help it. That wasted a lot of gas really quickly. The body of the car had a smooth, sleek look to it, and it had been a shiny blue at some point in its life. Most of it had faded away to a very dull dark blue. Korra was mostly fine with it because anything shiny caught the wrong sort of attention fairly quickly. The interior was black leather that had soaked up the hot sun so badly she’d covered the seats with white sheets. She’d even stapled them into place.

Of course, Korra and her dad had made modifications to the Boss 9 over the years. Mostly, they were all adjustments to make it more suited to their life in the wasteland. Her dad added one huge fuel tank onto it, installing it into one side of the trunk. Later on, Korra added another fuel tank right next to it. She even one upped the old man by figuring out how to adjust the fuel gauge so that it accommodated for the extra tanks. On the hood of the vehicle was a tightly folded up sail that she used sand bending to propel the Boss 9 forward when she wanted to conserve gas. However, it required someone to be in the driver’s seat while she bended. Korra hand’t used it in over a year. Her backseat was all storage space since the fuel tanks took up the entirety of the Boss 9’s small trunk. That wasn’t the end of the world though. The backseat was roomy enough to hold two spare tires, some gallons of spare gas, food and water rations, spare clothes, warmer clothes, some personal mementos, and even an extra pair of boots she’d been lucky enough to ‘acquire’ from a bandit.

Korra was still too used to keeping the front seat space open that she still wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. 

On top of all that, she hidden several weapons in every nook and cranny that she could reach in several different situations. Chi blockers were a huge problem that most benders had decided to solve with guns. Korra also liked this solution. She owned three pistols, a revolver, a sawed-off double barrel shot gun, and a submachine gun. That last one was her extreme emergency gun because of limited ammunition. Either way, if she couldn’t get rid of a threat with bending, she could do it with her guns or the knife she always kept in her boot.

However, Korra really didn’t like the size of the war party speeding her way. In particular, she found her heart hammering in her throat at the sight of their war rig. The monster was huge and appeared to have been frankensteined together from many different cars, trucks, and semis. It was damn impressive and she wanted nothing to do with it. Even more concerning, she could almost make out facial features of a driver. She figured it was best to get out of dodge before vague facial features became whites of their eyes.

Korra tossed the binoculars into the backseat and swung into the driver’s seat through the open window. She tugged her aviator goggles down over her eyes to keep the dust out. The Boss 9 never had air conditioning due to the size of the engine. So, Korra got most of her cool air from tearing down the road at high speeds. Normally, she secured a second sheet over the stuff in her backseat to keep sand out. She didn’t have time to do that right now. Korra wasn’t looking forward to cleaning the grime up later.

In ten seconds, she was tearing through the wasteland at about 70 mph. The Boss 9 was quickly overcoming those speeds. Korra felt a familiar exhilaration in her gut from the warm wind in her face and the loud roar of the engine in her ears. She laughed loudly as the war party started shrinking in her side mirrors. Nothing in the world could beat this feeling. Her feeling of total freedom swallowed her being. She felt like a crow swooping through the sky. Underneath all that was the thought ‘Yeah, I’m the Avatar everyone wants dead and you don’t know it’s me but I’m getting away, goddammit.’

At least, that was the feeling until the Boss 9’s front right tire blew out.

The entire vehicle shuttered as it started slowing down, spraying sand over the hood as it dipped forward, threatening to flip. “No,” Korra panicked, “no no no nonononONONONO. NO!” The Boss 9 instead did a full spin as she jerked the steering wheel to the right to counter the momentum, coming to an abrupt halt. She pounded a fist on the dashboard. Korra breathed angrily as she glanced in her rearview mirror. There was no way she could change her tire before the war party was on her. Grimacing, she grabbed her submachine gun (for major emergencies) from the floor behind the passenger seat. She slung the gun over her back as she made sure her pistol was in her thigh holster. Korra flung open her door, jumping over it to crouch behind it. She didn’t know how many non benders in the party had guns. Plus, it was best that she didn’t give away that she was a bender yet.

Korra peeked around the corner of the car door and felt her blood freeze. She couldn’t just see the whites of the war rig driver’s eyes. She could that they were a stunning light green. Korra glared intensely straight into them. She wanted those eyes to know there was going to be a hell of a fight. 

The war party stopped a short distance from her vehicle and began jeering away at her. There was a mix of male and female voices. Odd. She’d heard from Katara that Immortan Joe only had boys in his war parties and used women for…dehumanizing purposes. Then again, Katara hadn’t been in these parts for decades. Yet, here there were both men and women wearing the white skull war paint of the Citadel.

“Crazy feral blew their damn tire!”

“Hahaha! Praise V8 for this smeg's terrible luck!”

“Speaking of V8, ya think that beautiful machine has one?”

“Well, that ugly schlanger sure don’t.”

Korra frowned, but she supposed she couldn’t really rate herself as well-kempt lately. Since Katara died she’d pretty much given up on keeping up her hygiene at all. There were always distractions, whether it was the voices, raiders, or just trying to survive. Her hair, for example, had grown rather long and matted over the past year. Her wolf tail holders had also gone along for the ride. So, in the back, it held her hair back in the middle of the mess it was. On top of that, her clothes were well-worn and far from clean. She didn’t wear anything too special. A faded tank top, almost-falling-apart cargo pants, a neckerchief around her neck to put over her face to keep dust out, Katara’s necklace underneath that, aviator goggles, and sturdy boots. 

The war rig’s door opened. There was an immediate round of shouted ‘Imperator’ from the war party. Korra reached a hand back for the sand around her, deciding she’d play earth bender. As the driver dropped down from the seat to the ground, Korra struck. With a yell, she threw huge waves of sand towards her enemies. There was shouting as the wave flipped a smaller vehicle, followed by flames as a fire bender from the party attacked. The black pants and white paint of her enemy almost made him seem monochrome. Except for, she noted, the red scarf used as a belt and the angry amber eyes outlined in black paint. Korra was surprised to notice that he probably had hair under that paint. Katara had said all war boys were bald from a radiation illness.

He flung another fireball in her direction. She snorted, easily dodging. Korra turned her foot in the sand and buried him alive. Korra heard another war boy shout a name and suddenly she was fighting with another earth bender to keep him under. No, several earth benders. But, somehow, one of them seemed more determined. This went on for several minutes. She made the mistake of making eye contact with the bender.

He noticed her gaze and screamed, “LET GO OF MY BROTHER! MAKO IS THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE LEFT!” There were tears forming in his eyes that sent a jerk into her stomach. Korra abruptly let go as she thought of Katara. The fire bender, Mako, rocketed to the surface gasping for breath. A lot of the white war paint had been scraped away by the sand, revealing the normal face of a normal boy.

“Oh my, murder again?” murmured the voice of her mother. She ignored it.

Two war girls dragged the fire bender out of the way. One of them slapped his back as he coughed up sand. Meanwhile, the brother stared her down, looking downright pissed and a bit confused. Korra erased all emotion from her face, raising a fist to return to her bending stance. The confusion disappeared from the war boy’s face in an instant. Wasting no time, he raised his fists and slammed them into the ground. Korra was preparing herself for defense when she felt the heat on her face. Acting more on instinct, she leaped backwards only to see where she was once standing overcome by lava.

Korra glanced down. She was going to land in it. Thinking quickly, she saw absolutely no reason why she couldn't bend lava as well. Reaching out with a fist, she forced the lava to cool down much like how she would with water to create ice. Except, Korra removed the heat at a much faster pace. As she started to land, Korra prayed to whatever gods or spirits that might be listening that it would work.

Korra’s feet landed on solid glass, causing it to crack loudly. A long silence followed it. Korra looked up to see the lava bender staring at her openmouthed, fists still clenched in the sand. She tried not to breathe too heavily. Taking all that heat out of that lava on such short notice had drained a lot of her energy but she couldn’t let them know that.

Someone whispered, “Another lava bender?”

Apparently, that broke whatever spell everyone was under because there was sudden shuffling in the sand behind her. Korra started to turn to face whoever it was when she felt sharp pains up her arms and legs. She cried out, swinging a fist to make contact with a war girl’s jaw. A war boy danced away from her other side back towards the war rig. They’d snuck around the other side of the Boss 9 to attack her. Korra growled, shifting a foot to bury the war girl. The girl remained there, rubbing her jaw. Korra’s brain caught up with her body as a sudden wave of weakness washed over her.

Chi blockers.

Well, that only left her with one, much messier option. Moving quickly, Korra pulled her submachine gun over her shoulder. Grimly, she aimed it at the girl on the ground. The girl stared up at her with wide blue eyes. With her finger just barely starting to squeeze the trigger, Korra hesitated. She’d never killed someone unarmed before.

“Like hell you will!” A voice shouted to her right.

Korra saw a red blur out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her gun towards the voice. But, by the time she tried to aim her gun, she was hit with what felt like one ton of force. Her entire body jerked in pain as every muscle tightened up like a spring. Korra let out a choked scream. She blacked out for a few seconds.

“Muzzle her and tie her hands,” ordered the same female voice.

Korra dimly wondered why she was on the ground. She laid there dazed for what felt like several minutes. What was she doing here again? Was it important? Did she find a part for the Boss 9? Suddenly, she became aware that her hands were shackled. Korra jumped up with a snarl.

Only, she was immediately punched in the face. As she returned to the ground, she smacked her head on the glass she’d cooled earlier. Korra stuck her head between her knees as her head rang with pain. She felt a sharp stinging at her hairline and a warm wetness.

She heard a low whistle followed by, “Nice one, Imperator Asami.”

The voice that attacked her responded, “Thank you. I’m really not a fan of those who almost kill one of my men. Make sure she doesn’t have any other surprises.” Korra probably would’ve defended herself at that if she wasn’t in so much pain. It was kill or be killed out here away from their pretty little desert oasis. Korra wasn’t the only one out here packing heat. In both the sense of fire bending and guns, if she wanted to get into details. Instead, she groaned in protest as her pistol and boot knife were taken.

As Korra’s head slowly stopped hurting, she came to a few realizations. One, they’d put some kind of metal muzzle on her face that was extremely uncomfortable. Two, a few war boys were dragging her by the chains towards the war rig. She thought they were the fire and lava bender from earlier but she couldn’t quite see out of the corner of her eye well enough. Third, some punk was working on changing the tire of her Boss 9, presumably so they could steal it. She made sure to make eye contact with him so he would know he was going to die when she got out of this mess.

Four, the Imperator, Asami?, was walking right in front of her as Korra was dragged to the rig. Korra put on her best angry grimace as she looked up to make eye contact with this undoubtedly ruthless, battle-scarred scoundrel who’d ripped someone’s throat out with her teeth to get the feared title of Imperator.

Instead, Korra laid eyes on one of the prettiest faces she’d ever seen in her life. 

Her angry grimace dropped into one of surprise. The Imperator’s hair was the first thing she noticed despite it being tied back. It was long, black, wavy, and looked impossibly soft. She was carrying a helmet under one arm, presumably to keep her hair out of the way in a fight. The next thing Korra noticed was that she also wore her lips red as blood on top of the Imperator forehead grease. The black of the grease made her green eyes stick out intensely. They gazed at her with a cold watchfulness.

The Imperator wore leather leggings that looked like they’d been patched multiple times. She wore sturdy boots that tied off just below her knees. Around her waist, there was a brown belt with as many pouches as the Imperator could physically fit on it. Her shirt was faded red and plain but cleanish. That must have been the blur Korra had saw.

One of her hands had a strange device on it. It was a large metal glove that crackled with electricity in its palm. The Imperator held it away from herself, palm towards Korra. She was obviously ready to use it at the first sign of trouble. Korra realized that was probably the painful jolt she had felt through her entire body.

Korra had never felt so mediocre in her life.

The Imperator broke eye contact with her, “Bolin, I want you two to chain her up in the lookout station on my war rig to keep her as far away from the sand as possible. Just to be safe, I want you up there keeping an eye on her.”

The lava bender, Bolin, gave her a cheery salute, “Aye aye, Asami!”

“Imperator,” his brother reminded him with an elbow in the ribs.

Within seconds, Korra was sand bended onto the top of the rig. The lookout station consisted of half a car body welded on top of the war rig’s huge tanker trailer. Korra wondered if it was used to carry loads of water, gas, or something else. Her thoughts were interrupted as she was roughly pulled to her feet and pushed toward the lookout station. The fire bender seemed to have no qualms about making sure her chains extra uncomfortable. He pointed at the floor to indicate where she should sit. The one crate was probably for Bolin. She didn’t say a word the whole time. There wasn’t actually a social protocol that she knew of that incorporated a humorous way to say, ‘Hey guy, totally sorry about attempting to kill you fifteen minutes ago? No hard feelings?’ To be fair, Korra didn’t have a lot of social protocol for most situations.

Bolin smacked his hand on his brother’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, Mako. I’ll watch her from here, dude. You just go take it easy somewhere for a while, alright?”

Mako narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her, “Yeah, okay. Don’t fall asleep on this one, okay?” He paused, “Actually, don’t take your eyes off her period.” As the war rig started up, the fire bender got into the cab, maybe to take a nap.

Bolin’s smiley personality melted off his face as he made eye contact with her. Korra stared back, feeling annoyed that blood from the cut on her head was starting to drip into her eye. He slowly sat on the crate next to her, almost uncomfortably close. Bolin continued to intensely stare at her as she became increasingly fidgety. Korra would glance out the window, then back at him. She’d look out the other window, then back, and so on.

Finally, several miles down the road, “Why did you let my brother go?” She turned her head back towards him, having accepted his weird staring fifteen minutes ago. Korra had responded by choosing to ignore it. “You’re the strongest earth bender I’ve ever come across. You had him and there was nothing we could do about it. Why?” Korra looked at him, really looked at him instead of having a stare down. He, of course, had the typical white war boy paint get-up. But, he had a softer look than the other war boys and girls somehow. It might've been in the shape of his face or the look in his green eyes. Korra wasn’t sure. But, something about that made her feel obligated to give an answer.

“I didn't wanna be the reason why someone else was alone,” She managed to croak out as she turned away to gaze out the window. It was difficult to speak with the metal mask clamped on her face, restricting her jaw. She braced herself for a look of pity from the war boy. To her surprise, she received a sympathetic look instead.

“Our parents were killed by fire cultists. Dad was born into it. They were angry that he left with our mother because she was an earth bender. They just kinda…dropped us at the Citadel and the War Boys found their burnt bodies a few days later.” Bolin quietly informed the floor. Then, looking up at her, he asked, “What happened that made you alone?”

There was a roaring in her ear. Screaming. Laughing. The smell and sight of blood. The sting of tears in her eyes from terror and gas exhaust. Mangled bodies of her parents. Despair. A surge of power. Raiders’ bodies torn into pieces. Absolute silence. Numb loneliness. Katara.

Korra slammed her eyes shut, shoving her knees into her face. She started to focus on counting. 1 element. 2 element. 3 element. 4 element. That was the number of elements she should be able to control. Korra focused on the coolness of the metal floor beneath her. She became aware of how uncomfortable her chains were and the tightness of the metal mask on her head. She slowly realized Bolin was speaking to her.

“Hey! Are you okay? What’s wrong?” He sounded closer and worried. She slowly pulled her head away from her knees. Her head wound had left a large blood stain on one pant leg. Korra grimaced at it before directing the look at Bolin. He had left his seat on the crate, hovering just over her knees with a slightly panicked expression on his face.

“Don’t ask me about That.” She slowly enunciated. Seeing his hurt puppy look, she added, “I just…can’t.” Korra turned to look out the window.

The Citadel was on the horizon.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're confused about anything or just want to know more, please ask me questions I'd love to answer them. Thanks for reading!


End file.
